Big sky
by aboyandhisstarship
Summary: The story of the true hero of every campaign. please rate and review and leave your thoughts and suggestions. have yourself a beautiful day (rated T for canon typical themes)
1. Chapter 1

BIG SKY: an XCOM story

David Brown was 19 when he first enlisted in the royal Canadian air force. In spite of his young age he showed an aptitude for flying anything with wings. He flew 57 missions for RCAF over the two years. The council of nations took notice of and decided to assign him to XCOM. Less than an hour after decision was made two men in dark suits showed up at the air base where David was assigned and informed him he was being transferred. He was instructed that his new assignment was highly classified and multi-national intuitive and more would be explained later he was shoved onto a plane bound for Buckley air force base in Colorado.

Within minutes of the plane touching done he was shoved into a helicopter with a couple of different people. They weren't military that much was obvious and the heated discussions they had about science and engineering suggested they were researchers. Eventually they arrived at their destination an army base in the middle of nowhere with seemingly nothing around. David and the scientists were led by a group of heavily armed guards into a concrete building where they went through a series of verifying exercises to ensure they were who they said they were before finally being allowed onto an elevator that would lead them to the base.

After traveling in the elevator for what felt like an hour but was probably closer to 3 minutes the occupants stepped out into a hallway of metal craved into the earth. In front of the group stood women in a lab coat who made a point of speaking everyone but David calmly said "Everyone please follow me to the ze research lab where you will assigned" she said with a Swiss German accent David stopped her before she could leave excited scientists in tow saying "umm, Doctor Vahlen" he said stealing a quick glance at her ID tag before continuing " I'm supposed to be reassigned to this base but I don't exactly have the right skill set or qualification's to be a scientist so can you tell me why I'm here?". Doctor Vahlen pushed her lips together for a moment as if annoyed that David asked such a stupid question before saying "military personal are neither my department nor expertise, wait here for central officer Bradford he will assist you". And with that see left with the scientists in tow leaving David alone in a hallway in a secret underground base with no idea why he was there.

After loafing around for about 5 minutes a man with a green sweater, khakis and a head set arrived unlike the Doctor he was clearly military and had a commanding presence that forced David to snap to attention. With a chuckle he said "at ease solider and welcome I'm central officer Bradford" relaxing his posture David said "Lieutenant David Brown sir Royal Canadian Air Force" laughing again Bradford said " I know who you are Lieutenant and it's good to have you here" . Both soldiers had begun walking where David didn't know but he decided to cut straight to the point asking "why is the place used for sir?" Bradford said "were the people you call on when the world has a rainy day. Be it a natural disaster, a plague or any other catastrophe that threatens humanities continued existence. We respond a deal with the threat." he said before finally entering a large room with a giant holographic globe in the middle he turned around and said to David "Welcome to XCOM".


	2. Big sky: meet the skyranger

Big sky: Meet the skyranger

 **A/N: I still figuring out if I want this story to follow the cannon timeline where humans lose the first alien war or the no cannon timeline where we win (yay us) if you thoughts on the matter let me know. I would have to figure out where David fits into XCOM 2 (or if he even survives the first war) anyway let me know what you think and enjoy.**

The room with the globe was alight with activity. People dressed similarly to central officer Bradford were looking intently at computer screens, typing or talking over ear pieces. Bradford started walking into the room explaining "the XCOM project has been activated twice since its inception first in the year 1968. It was activated to deal with the "sleepwalker plague" which was affecting large part of rural New Mexico the project was able to stop the chemical leak responsible for the spread of the disease and create a cure. The second time was in the year 1999 however it was more like an international police task force dealing with a theft of chemical weapons form a research lab in Greenland" Bradford walked out of the control center and through a door marked quarters. Bradford led David down the corridor for another 30 seconds or so before stopping right before a door. "well here we are" Bradford said" this is your quarters while staying here on base" on the bed was a few changes of clothes including 2 XCOM flight suits , a number of t-shirts with the XCOM logo on it, several pairs of pants similar to what Bradford was wearing and two XCOM sweaters. "This is your room get changed into one of the flight suits and leave your uniform here to be destroyed" Bradford said David looked up sharply the surprise he was feeling evident in his voice "destroyed sir?" Bradford responded "yes your rank and position before you came here doesn't matter. You are XCOM now and your old life is over" and with that dramatic statement he left David alone to change.

A few minutes passed before David left his newly assigned quarters in the XCOM flight suit. Bradford was waiting for him and said "great now that you're settled we need to show you the skyranger." David look confused for a second before asking "The skyranger sir?" Bradford smiled responding "yes the skyranger and I think you're going to love her." Bradford led David down a short corridor up a flight of stairs and into a massive room craved out of the rock with 2 jets the likes of which David had never seen in his life before and in the center was a metal plane that David could only think was the skyranger. Bradford pointed at an older Asian man standing by the weird looking aircraft stating" this is Doctor Raymond Shen our chief engineer he's going to tell you everything you need to know about the skyranger." And with a nod he left the hanger for the door marked command leaving David alone with the engineer.

Dr Shen smiled saying "you must be the young man we've assigned to fly this thing" he said waving towards the sky ranger with one hand while extending the other to shake David's hand. "Yes sir that is my assignment… I think" Dr Shen shook his head saying "they really need to start telling you new people more when they first arrive instead dumping you directly into the deep end." He paused briefly before stating "well no matter I have seen your record and you will do very well with us" he said with a soft smile before turning around his face lighting up "and this is the sky ranger. A VTOL aircraft capable of flying at supersonic speed. This craft can fly from here to the Australia in roughly 90 minutes. It's also invisible to radar and all known forms of conventional aerospace detection. The cock pit is a sealed and pressurized with its own independent oxygen supply in case of biological contaminates." Shen then grabbed a ladder nearby clearly to be used for the pilot to enter the vehicle before climbing to the top and gesturing for David to follow before beginning "this is the cockpit where you well be spending most of your time" it was small but not cramped with a chair in the middle enclosed by various screens none of which were active a dash board where the hose for his O2 mask would be connected and on the right hand side of the cockpit was a red button protected by a plastic covering. Shen pointed to each and begin to describe their function pointing out navigation and communication terminals before finally pointing at the red button and the small laptop like computer beneath it on the right hand side. Shen explained "this is the lockdown button. Should you for any reason need to leave the skyranger in the middle of a deployment push this button it ceases all computer functions making the skyranger impossible to takeoff. After the button is pushed a message is automatically sent to central and the squad leaders that you deployed with informing them that you have locked down the skyranger. The skyranger can then only be unlocked by your personal 15 digit code to restore computer functions." Shen then looked at David and smiled "any questions?"

Before David could answer Bradford returned asking "so is he up to speed?" Dr. Shen turned back and said "yes he will do very well with us" Bradford smiled saying "wonderful. David from now on while you are on duty you will be addressed not as lieutenant not as Brown or even as David you will be referred to as Big Sky. While off duty whatever name is your personal preference will be allowed however you will not be saluted or called by your former rank is that understand?" David snapped up sharply saying "sir yes sir!" Bradford shook his head but smiled saying "there is no sir here Big Sky call me central" David nodded and said "ok... Central" central smiled saying "I'll show to the mess you must be Hungry after the day you had." Before leading the way back through command towards the quarters.

 **a/n: back again hello there is a reference to XCOM the bureau in this story it is only an Easter egg and the events of that game have no effect on the story there is also a reference to the original UFO defense however that one is a lot more subtle…. I think but it has effect on my story. This story acts on the assumption that the events of the game are the first contact with aliens which is way XCOM purpose isn't just fighting aliens even though XCOM stands for extraterrestrial combat. I also played with the layout of the base just a bit for this story. Anyway please rate and review and enjoy your great day**


End file.
